Licensing Act

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications have been received to date by Easington district council from licensees for a new licence under the Licensing Act 2003; and what percentage of licences held this represents.

James Purnell: Information on the number of applications for converting existing licences received to date by Easington district council licensing authorities under the Licensing Act 2003 and the percentage this represents of existing licences, is not kept by my Department. Information on local licence application levels should be available from the respective district or borough council. Licensing authorities are the main local authorities responsible for administering and enforcing the new regime that comes into effect in November.

Licensing Act

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the likely consequences of the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 on the income of village halls; and if she will make a statement.

James Purnell: holding answer 9 June 2005
	There is no cost to village halls applying for a premises licence for the provision of public entertainment. Only where they wish to add the supply of alcohol to their licence, will the vast majority pay no more than £190 on initial application and £180 as an annual fee. For many halls the fees would be £100 and £70 respectively. Once granted a premises licence, village halls will have the flexibility to provide licensable activities on their premises to a wide variety of users.

Sport Administration Costs

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total administration costs of (a) the Sport and Recreation Division of her Department, (b) Sport England, (c) regional sports boards and (d) county sports partnerships were in 2004–05 (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of the overall budget of each.

Richard Caborn: The information you requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Administration costs 2004–05 (£000) As a percentage of budget allocated for each 
		
		
			 DCMS Sports  Directorate(1) 1,325 942 
			 Sport England(2) 24,782 99.11 
			 Regional Sports Boards 8,692 89.82 
			 County Sports  Partnerships 6,850 100.00 
		
	
	(1) Includes costs of Sports Division and Director of Sport (Group Head). Includes pay and other general administration.
	(2) Excludes the direct costs of running National Centres and Regional Offices

Citizens Advice Bureaux

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department gave in grant to Citizen's Advice Bureaux in each London borough in the last year for which figures are available.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department does not provide grant to local Citizens Advice Bureaux.

Abandoned Vehicles

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of abandoned vehicles were investigated within (a) 24 hours, (b) a week and (c) a month of a complaint being registered in the last year for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government has introduced a new Best Value Performance Indicator 218 on abandoned vehicles. From April this year, local authorities are required to record and supply data on both:
	(a) the percentage of new reports of abandoned vehicles investigated within 24 hours of notification and
	(b) the percentage of abandoned vehicles removed within 24 hours of the local authority becoming legally entitled to do so
	Figures for 2005–06 will be available later in 2006.

Auction Marts

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of auction marts.

Jim Knight: holding answer 13 June 2005
	Auction marts continue to be important for livestock farmers particularly for store and breeding stock. As part of the wider livestock and meat marketing chain they are not immune from change and evolution, but this can have positive impact too. New and/or redeveloped markets will include the one now being built at Cirencester which is p art funded by the Defra Rural Enterprise Scheme. In other markets there may be opportunities for business diversification. We continue to monitor the network of auction markets, and remain in regular contact with the Livestock Auctioneers Association and the Meat and Livestock Commission. The Red Meat Industry Forum, with significant contributory Government funding, is working on finding ways of helping industry improve the competitiveness of the red meat supply chain. This includes livestock auction markets.

Avian Flu

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what precautionary measures have been put in place to prevent the spread of the avian influenza virus H5N1 to the United Kingdom.

Ben Bradshaw: If there is an outbreak of disease in an exporting country Defra takes appropriate emergency safeguard action in accordance with Community legislation. This may include a ban on imports of animals and animal products from all, or parts, of that country.
	Safeguard measures in relation to Avian influenza (Al) were put in place for effected Asian countries in January 2004 and have since been extended to 30 September 2005. Restrictions were placed on South African imports in August 2004 and have now been extended to 31 December 2005.
	The situation in effected countries is kept under review and controls on imports are modified in line with community decisions. Safeguard measures are currently in place to ban or restrict imports of animals, meat and other products of susceptible species in respect of highly pathogenic Avian influenza (HPAI) in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, the People's Republic of China, including the territory of Hong Kong, North Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and South Africa.
	All poultry meat and birds imported into the EU from third countries must enter at designated border inspection posts where they are subject to veterinary inspections. All consignments are subject to documentary and identity checks. These checks ensure that these import conditions are met.
	From the time of import, live poultry, or eggs once hatched, must be held in quarantine for six weeks in an approved establishment to ensure that they are not carrying disease.

Canada Geese

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the impact of Canada geese on (a) the environment and (b) other forms of wildlife.

Jim Knight: Canada geese were introduced to this country to add interest to parks and are another example of unwise introductions. They are large aggressive birds, now resident and breeding in Britain. The population estimate is 96,000 in England, with a suggested annual increase in population of 10 per cent. Its size and aggressive nature enables it to dominate other native species in terms of feeding and nest site selection, which can result in other species being unable to breed. There are also reports that breeding success of other birds is affected by trampling of nests, eggs and young. The Canada goose can also interbreed with other goose species, resulting in hybrids.
	Large congregations of Canada geese in parks can lead to local problems of bank erosion, fouling and intimidation of other park users, both human and wildlife.
	Being resident, Canada geese may extend the period during which damage to agricultural crops may occur which can lead to conflict with farmers.
	The Canada goose is not a rare species, and the numbers in England are not significant in terms of the world population.

Recycling

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of (a) domestic, (b) commercial and (c) industrial waste has been recycled in the UK in each year since 2001.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) Estimates of the percentage of UK household waste recycled or composted are shown in the table:
	
		Household waste recycled or composted
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 2001–02 12 
			 2002–03 4 
			 2003–04 17 
		
	
	(a) and (b) Estimates based on an Environment Agency survey of England and Wales in 1998–99 show that 45 per cent. of industrial and 26 per cent. of commercial waste was recycled or re-used . Results from a further survey for 2002–03 will be published shortly.

Car Sharing

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment the Government have made of the effectiveness of car-sharing within schools as a means of reducing congestion associated with the school run.

Karen Buck: The Government want to make it possible for more children to walk, cycle or use the bus to get to and from school. Where these are not feasible, we would like as many parents as possible to have the option of car-sharing. Many families already make their own informal arrangements but formal car-sharing schemes for school journeys are only just starting to be developed.
	The impact of car-sharing on traffic levels is included in a major research report published by the Department last July—"Smarter Choices—Changing the Way We Travel". Based on the evidence provided by this report, we are encouraging local authorities to consider including initiatives such as car-sharing in their new transport strategies.

Clive Soley

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the recent occasions on which (a) he, (b) other Ministers in his Department and (c) officials of the Department have met Clive Soley on departmental business.

Karen Buck: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport met Clive Soley at the Future Heathrow event on Monday 23 May. No other Department for Transport Ministers have recently met Clive Soley on departmental business. It is not known whether any officials from the Department for Transport may have met Clive Soley recently since no central record is kept of meetings officials attend.

High-occupancy Vehicle Lanes

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has collated on the effectiveness of high occupancy vehicle lanes.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department is in touch with the highway authorities who have installed high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. The Highways Agency has commissioned reviews of international knowledge and experience on high occupancy/toll (HOT) lanes, a development of HOV lanes.
	Leeds city council has reported on the HOV lane on the A647 in Leeds and an information sheet is available on their website at http://www.leeds.gov.uk/, then search for high occupancy vehicle lane.
	South Gloucester council can provide data on the performance of their HOV lane and there is some information on their website at http://www.southglos. gov.uk/SouthGlos/TransportAndRoads/TrafficAndRo ads/CalmingAndManagement/CarShareLanes.htm
	It is too early to report on the lane on the A370 Long Ashton Bypass in North Somerset which commenced operation in February this year.

Learner Driver's Pack

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will (a) withdraw the Complete Official Learner's Driving Pack published by The Stationery Office, (b) amend the inaccurate information it contains and (c) refund the cost to learner drivers and others who have purchased the Pack.

Stephen Ladyman: We have identified an error concerning information about a road sign in the DVD in our Complete Official Learner Driver Pack. We are taking steps to withdraw the incorrect packs from sale. We shall consider sympathetically any requests for a refund.

M6

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research he has evaluated on (a) the purposes for car journeys on the M6 and (b) the average length of car journeys on the M6.

Stephen Ladyman: The purposes of car journeys and the average trip length on the
	M6 has been evaluated in connection with the West Midlands to North West Conurbations Multi-Modal Study.
	(a)The purpose of car journeys that join the M6 between Junctions 11 and 19 were as follows:
	
		
			  AM Inter-Peak PM 
		
		
			 Commuting 58.2 12.8 49.8 
			 Business 27.5 43.6 26.2 
			 Other 14.0 43.6 24.0 
		
	
	These figures exclude journeys on the M6 that pass through both these junctions. The Department for Transport does not hold information on the purpose of these journeys.
	(b) 42 per cent. of all traffic (cars, vans, lorries etc) passes through both Junction 11 and 19 and therefore has a journey length greater than 54 miles.

Pedestrian Crossings

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the evidential basis is for the claim that puffin crossings cause less vehicle delay than pelican crossings; what assessment the Department has made of which type of crossing pedestrians prefer and what guidance his Department gives to local authorities as to which system to install for newly implemented pedestrian crossings.

Stephen Ladyman: The reduced vehicle delay at a puffin crossing is primarily a result of cancelling the call for a pedestrian stage when no pedestrians are waiting. This frequently occurs when pedestrians see a gap in the traffic after pressing the call button. The benefit published in the Transport Research Laboratory study, (TRL Research Report 364), was derived from observations at sites where the call cancelling facility was trialled.
	Puffin crossings were developed to address the problems that pedestrians were encountering in using traditional signalled controlled crossings, including pelicans. We are currently carrying out further research to assess the operation of conversions from pelicans to puffins, including the behaviour and perception of pedestrians.
	The Department issued guidance to practitioners in the form of Local Transport Notes 1/95 "The Assessment of Pedestrian Crossings" and 2/95—"Design of Pedestrian Crossings". These include information about both pelican and puffin crossings. They do not recommend one against the other, although they do say that it is intended that the puffin operational cycle will become the standard form of pedestrian crossing at all types of crossings.

Secure Station Status

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many crimes have been committed at stations that meet secure station status since 31 October 2004.

Derek Twigg: The British Transport police have provided the following information for the number of offences reported at stations that meet secure station status for the period 1 November 2004 to 31 May 2005:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Notifiable offences 7,249 
			 Non-notifiable offences 2,484 
		
	
	Notifiable offences are those offences which form the Home Office recorded crime statistics and include all indictable offences together with some closely related summary offences such as common assault. Data supplied includes offences recorded within stations' premises, including retail/entertainment outlets, car parks and cycle sheds.

Train Commuters

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) passengers in excess of capacity and (b) total number of passengers figure was (i) for each London commuting service train operator and (ii) in total, broken down into (A) am peak and (B) pm peak figures measured in the annual survey in 2004; and how many peak passengers into London there were for (1) am peak periods, (2) pm peak periods and (3) in total for each London commuting service train operator.

Derek Twigg: The results of the autumn 2004 counts will be published at the end of this month. The results of the autumn 2003 counts are shown in the following table. The "Passengers In Excess of Capacity" (PIXC) mechanism monitors services into London in the morning peak and out of London in the evening peak.
	
		
			  am peak pm peak 
			 Operator Load PIXC (percentage) Load PIXC (percentage) Total (am and pm) 
		
		
			 Chiltern 9,191 3.3 8,157 0.8 2.1 
			 South Central 69,127 4.7 52,083 1.1 3.1 
			 Connex South Eastern 118,162 3.1 92,048 0.5 2.0 
			 Great Eastern 47,739 2.1 46,358 2.1 2.1 
			 C2c 26,643 1.3 23,619 0.6 1.0 
			 Silverlink 18,824 6.0 17,395 2.1 4.2 
			 South West Trains 81,670 7.4 70,373 2.8 5.2 
			 Thames 11,054 2.0 8,977 0.9 1.5 
			 Thameslink 27,131 2.3 23,218 2.7 2.5 
			 WAGN 47,367 1.5 43,003 1.3 1.4 
			 Total 459,908 3.8 385,231 1.5 2.7

Vehicle Excise Duty

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions in the last 12 months for which figures are available when the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) initiated court proceedings against people who were believed not to have paid excise duty (VED), the DVLA (a) withdrew proceedings and (b) lost a case in court because the vehicle keeper showed that he or she had paid VED; how much the DVLA estimates such proceedings cost public funds; what steps the DVLA will take to improve its administration procedures to avoid the initiation of this type of unnecessary proceedings; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: In the 12 months to the end of March 2005 DVLA successfully prosecuted 189,418 cases prosecuted in court for vehicle excise duty (VED) evasion. DVLA was unsuccessful in 3,400 cases. A breakdown of why these cases were unsuccessful is not available but the main reason is likely to be that VED was paid after the summons had been issued.
	DVLA asks for a minimum of £35 to cover the costs of the whole procedure from initiation of enforcement proceedings to attendance in court.
	The agency makes every effort to avoid court action. Initial action against VED evaders is taken through the offer of an out of court settlement which offers the offender the opportunity to settle the matter without recourse to court proceedings. Around 27 per cent. of evaders make use of this procedure.

Housing Benefit

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average housing benefit payment in (a) the London borough of Haringey and (b) Greater London has been in each of the last eight years; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 13 June 2005
	The information is in the table.
	
		Average weekly housing benefit payments in London borough of Haringey and the Government Office Region of London
		
			 £ per week 
			 As at November: Haringey London 
		
		
			 1997 70.50 60.94 
			 1998 72.13 62.45 
			 1999 73.59 65.59 
			 2000 77.97 68.78 
			 2001 84.23 73.55 
			 2002 93.73 81.69 
			 2003 99.23 84.42 
			 2004 108.51 92.42 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	2. The average amounts have been rounded to the nearest penny.
	3. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
	4. Housing benefit figures exclude any Extended Payment cases.
	Source:
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in November 1997 to 2004.

Housing Benefit

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average housing benefit payment in each London borough has been in each of the past five years.

James Plaskitt: The information is in the following table:
	
		Average weekly amount of housing benefit in London by local authority: November 2000 to 2004
		
			 £ 
			  November 
			 Local authority 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Barking 53.29 55.94 58.73 64.26 70.29 
			 Barnet 80.93 85.58 93.04 101.49 112.09 
			 Bexley 64.73 68.29 73.16 74.92 82.13 
			 Brent 86.20 92.40 103.40 103.83 113.25 
			 Bromley 68.23 70.94 78.23 79.63 83.98 
			 Camden 73.83 77.81 88.48 85.19 92.05 
			 City of London 66.54 67.44 78.53 73.15 79.44 
			 Croydon 71.02 75.37 82.50 84.97 91.67 
			 Ealing 73.98 78.74 86.20 93.65 103.31 
			 Enfield 73.35 82.99 97.97 99.92 108.85 
			 Greenwich 57.96 60.87 63.96 66.12 70.33 
			 Hackney 65.98 71.00 79.71 75.88 87.02 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 67.82 74.11 81.92 82.66 90.40 
			 Haringey 77.97 84.23 93.73 99.23 108.51 
			 Harrow 82.15 92.28 105.66 109.49 117.34 
			 Havering 54.44 58.25 61.02 60.68 67.11 
			 Hillingdon 72.21 77.60 83.41 94.76 98.98 
			 Hounslow 62.44 65.13 71.93 78.21 84.20 
			 Islington 62.31 66.45 71.52 73.61 80.54 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 79.88 83.02 95.50 91.36 104.41 
			 Kingston upon Thames 73.46 78.94 87.17 91.04 97.08 
			 Lambeth 62.00 65.68 74.60 74.53 82.67 
			 Lewisham 57.98 62.16 67.38 67.41 69.55 
			 Merton 63.75 67.30 72.54 76.14 83.13 
			 Newham 68.88 74.82 87.34 96.18 109.20 
			 Redbridge 86.37 90.67 98.13 104.82 119.18 
			 Richmond upon Thames 70.03 74.11 82.46 86.28 91.96 
			 Southwark 57.79 60.83 67.88 68.29 73.05 
			 Sutton 61.55 63.36 69.98 72.91 77.92 
			 Tower Hamlets 63.38 68.12 74.82 79.15 87.10 
			 Waltham Forest 65.86 70.28 78.22 78.71 88.53 
			 Wandsworth 72.46 76.70 82.81 86.46 93.41 
			 Westminster 90.78 97.50 114.58 115.51 126.83 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	2. The figures are weekly amounts expressed in pounds and have been rounded to the nearest penny.
	3. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
	4. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.
	5. From April 2003 support costs were removed from housing benefit eligible rents, resulting in a decrease in the amount of housing benefit awarded. This accounts for the decrease in some of the figures at November 2003.
	Source:
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in November 2000 to 2004.

Unemployment/Incapacity

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the numbers of (a) unemployed people and (b) people on incapacity benefit in each year between 1979–80 and 2005–06; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The information is in the table.
	
		Numbers of people claiming unemployment benefit (UB), jobseekers allowance (JSA), invalidity benefit (IVB), incapacity benefit (IB) or severe disability allowance (SDA) in Great Britain in each year
		
			  UB/JSA claimants IVB/IB and SDA working-age claimants 
		
		
			 1979 1,011,000 720,000 
			 1980 1,289,000 731,000 
			 1981 2,068,000 751,000 
			 1982 2,426,000 798,000 
			 1983 2,656,000 860,000 
			 1984 2,779,000 937,000 
			 1985 2,886,000 1,037,000 
			 1986 2,946,000 1,089,000 
			 1987 2,660,000 1,152,000 
			 1988 2,142,000 1,237,000 
			 1989 1,665,000 1,348,000 
			 1990 1,553,000 1,453,000 
			 1991 2,169,000 1,582,000 
			 1992 2,637,000 1,754,000 
			 1993 2,773,000 1,946,000 
			 1994 2,502,000 2,102,000 
			 1995 2,202,000 2,443,000 
			 1996 2,004,000 2,486,000 
			 1997 1,521,000 2,543,000 
			 1998 1,290,000 2,539,000 
			 1999 1,197,000 2,570,000 
			 2000 1,046,000 2,620,000 
			 2001 930,000 2,653,000 
			 2002 910,000 2,658,000 
			 2003 899,000 2,666,000 
			 2004 823,000 2,644,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
	2. "working-age" includes men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.
	3. Invalidity benefit was replaced by incapacity benefit in 1995. The IB/SDA figures from 1995 onwards include incapacity benefit short-term lower-rate benefit cases, so cannot be directly compared with the pre-1995 figures.
	4. Invalidity benefit and incapacity benefit figures include credits-only cases.
	Source:
	UB/JSA—Claimant Count, Nomis.
	IVB/IB/SDA—Social Security Statistics (figures up to and including year 1996);
	IBQSE February quarters (figures from 1997 to 1994); and Client Group Analysis (figures for 1995 to 2004).

Council Tax

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria have been drawn up for the council tax banding revaluation.

Phil Woolas: The terms of reference for the independent inquiry into local government funding by Sir Michael Lyons require him to make recommendations on how best to reform council tax, taking into account the forthcoming revaluation of domestic property. His report is due to be submitted by the end of the year to my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir Michael's work will inform the Government's decisions on council tax bands.

Council Tax

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to increase the number of council tax bandings in England at the time of revaluation.

Phil Woolas: The terms of reference for the independent inquiry into local government funding by Sir Michael Lyons require him to make recommendations on how best to reform council tax, taking into account the forthcoming revaluation of domestic property. His report is due to be submitted by the end of the year to my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir Michael's work will inform the Government's decisions on council tax bands.

Local Government

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Local Government Association on local government pensions; and what plans he has to tackle deficits in local government pension funds.

Phil Woolas: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and I last met with the chairman of the Local Government Association at the first meeting of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) tripartite committee which was held on 24 May.
	The setting up of this committee was announced by my right hon. Friend on 18 March. It is chaired by my right hon. Friend, and includes representatives of local authority employers and trades unions. It will focus on the development and modernisation of the scheme, involving the local authority employers and trade unions who have an interest in its future and will consider what measures need to be put in place to ensure the scheme's affordability and sustainability. We want to ensure that local authority employees have a stable, strong pension scheme in which they have confidence. It is important that the balance is right between, on one hand, the cost of the scheme to the taxpayer, and, on the other hand, the value of the benefits which the scheme offers to current and future pensioners.
	Following the 31 March 2004 LGPS actuarial valuation exercise, the actuaries appointed by each of the funds in England and Wales have set employer contribution rates, with effect from 1 April 2005, so as to ensure the ongoing solvency of individual funds as required by the LGPS Regulations 1997. This exercise took account of each funds' funding strategy statement which sets out the deficit recovery period over which their liabilities are to be prudently managed.

Local Government

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost of the Local Government Standards Board was in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is tabled as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Grant paid to the Standards Board for England 
		
		
			 2003–04 8.944 
			 2004–05 8.94 
			 2005–06 (12)9.181 
		
	
	(12) Expected.
	These figures represent the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's annual funding to the Standards Board. Grant funding enables the board and the Adjudication Panel to undertake the full range of their responsibilities, including the investigation by board officials of allegations of misconduct by local authority members, the issuing of guidance to authorities on conduct issues and the determination of cases by tribunals of Adjudication Panel members.

Local Government

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the daily fee paid to adjudicators sitting on a Local Government Standards Board adjudication panel is; whether there is a fee for preparatory 'reading in' work on a case; when the fees were last reviewed; when they are next expected to be reviewed; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The current daily fees payable to members of the Adjudication Panel for England are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   £ 
			  Daily fee from 1 April 2005 
		
		
			 President of the Adjudication Panel 452 
			 Legal members of the Adjudication Panel 379 
			 Lay members of the Adjudication Panel 175 
			 Fee for cancellation of tribunal date 58 
		
	
	The fees were last reviewed with effect from 1 April 2005, and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister currently expects them to be reviewed again next year. No fee in addition to the daily fees listed above is payable.

Mobile Phone Masts

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on mobile phone operators sharing telecommunications masts; what steps he has taken to encourage operators to do so; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Planning Policy Guidance Note 8, "Telecommunications" (PPG8), makes clear the expectation that developers should provide evidence to local planning authorities that they have carefully considered the use of existing masts, buildings and other structures before seeking to erect any new mast, regardless of size. The authority may be justified in refusing prior approval or planning permissions if it considers the evidence regarding the consideration of such alternative sites is not satisfactory.
	Ministers in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister meet regularly with the Mobile Operators Association to discuss a range of issues including the operators' progress in meeting their 10 commitments which includes a commitment on site sharing. The UK network operators have established a cross-industry Site Share Working Group and have developed a database to facilitate the exchange of information on site sharing opportunities.
	On 4 April, it was announced that the Government will be commissioning research to identify the future direction of mobile phone technology and the future need for mast developments. The research will also look at the potential for increased sharing of masts.

Mobile Phone Masts

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what investigation his Department has undertaken into the fees charged by local planning authorities for planning applications for mobile telephone telecommunication masts; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Research was undertaken by Arup for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2003 to investigate the costs of handling planning applications in general. Using this as a basis, in September 2004 we issued a consultation document entitled "Changes to the System of Planning Fees in England" and in December 2004 we published a second consultation document entitled "Further Proposed Changes to the System of Planning Fees in England". Both these documents asked about the fees charged by local planning authorities for planning applications for mobile telephone telecommunication masts.

Property Prices

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average price of a new build residential property excluding social housing in (a) England, (b) London, (c) Westminster and (d) Barnet was on the latest date for which figures are available.

Yvette Cooper: Figures from the HM Land Registry for 2004 give the following median prices for new properties sold:
	
		
			 Area Median price (£) 
		
		
			 England 175,000 
			 London 249,500 
			 Barnet 250,000 
			 Westminster 499,972 
		
	
	It is not possible to separately identify shared ownership sales from the source.

Asylum Seekers

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to speed up the asylum process.

Tony McNulty: Our current targets for the processing of asylum claims are to: decide 75 per cent. of new asylum applications within two months; ensure that 65 per cent. of new substantive asylum applications are decided, including final appeal, within six months; take 60 per cent. of detained NSA designated list claimants who were certified as clearly unfounded and detained throughout the process from claim to removal within 14 days. In addition, as we made clear in the five-year strategy for asylum and immigration, "Controlling our Borders: Making migration work for Britain" which was published in February 2005 [Cm 6472], we are planning to introduce faster, tightly-managed processes for all new asylum claimants. Existing detained processes will continue alongside new, faster, non-detained processes which are currently being developed and will be implemented in phases which will include tight case-management as a specific feature.

Crime

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of males in Leeds aged 40 or younger had a criminal record in the latest period for which figures are available.

Fiona Mactaggart: The data requested is not collected on a city or other regional basis. The most recent national figures on criminal careers were published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin, 4/01.

Crime

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which age group in Leeds had the highest rate of offending in the latest period for which figures are available.

Fiona Mactaggart: The data contained in the table gives the number of offenders found guilty at all courts in Leeds, by offence and age group, 2003.
	Statistics on court proceedings for 2004 will be published in the autumn.
	
		Number of offenders found guilty at all courts in Leeds by offence group, age group and population, 2003(17)
		
			  Age group 
			  10 to 17 years 18 to 20 years 21+ years 
			 Offence group Found guilty Found guilty per 10,000 population Found guilty Found guilty per 10,000 population Found guilty Found guilty per 10,000 population 
		
		
			 Indictable 1,065 141 908 252 4,696 90 
			 Summary non-motoring 440 58 305 85 4,829 93 
			 Summary motoring 221 29 682 189 7,345 141 
			 All offences 1,726 229 1,895 526 16,870 323 
		
	
	(17) These data are on the principal offence basis.

EU Accession Countries

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many citizens of EU accession state countries are registered to work in the UK.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 8 June 2005
	Provisional management information from the Worker Registration Scheme was published in the Accession Monitoring Report on 26 May 2005. The full report is available on the Home Office website at:
	www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/0/reports/accession monitoring.html

EU Accession Countries

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nationals of the EU accession countries have been convicted of crimes in the Greater London area in the last 12 months.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is not available. Data held on the Home Office Court Proceedings database does not include the nationality of the defendant.

Fly-tipping

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many successful prosecutions there were for fly-tipping in each local authority in England in the last five years;
	(2)  how many successful prosecutions there have been of individuals for (a) dropping litter and (b) graffiti in (i) Brent East and (ii) each local authority in England.

Hazel Blears: The available information is contained in the table and gives the number of defendants proceeded against and found guilty at all courts for "fly-tipping" for petty sessional area, and by police force areas in England, 1999 to 2003.
	Statistics on court proceedings for 2004 will be published in the autumn.
	
		Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for "fly-tipping" offences1,2, Brent petty sessional area and police force areas in England, 1999 to 2003
		
			  1999 2000 2001 
			 Court/police force area Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty 
		
		
			 Brent PSA(20) — — 1 1 4 3 
			
			 Police force area   
			 Avon and Somerset 2 2 — — 7 4 
			 Bedfordshire 5 3 — — 6 6 
			 Cambridgeshire 3 2 1 1 — — 
			 Cheshire 4 5 7 7 6 4 
			 Cleveland 4 4 8 5 2 1 
			 Cumbria 2 2 5 3 7 5 
			 Derbyshire 11 7 10 5 18 15 
			 Devon and Cornwall 10 7 12 10 14 12 
			 Dorset 1 1 2 2 1 — 
			 Durham 1 1 3 3 — 1 
			 Essex 10 10 22 15 18 11 
			 Gloucestershire 3 3 1 — 4 3 
			 Greater Manchester 15 13 31 24 29 25 
			 Hampshire 13 9 11 9 18 10 
			 Hertfordshire 14 12 8 7 17 14 
			 Humberside 8 8 4 3 7 6 
			 Kent — — — — 2 2 
			 Lancashire 32 22 41 30 23 19 
			 Leicestershire 16 11 10 8 15 11 
			 Lincolnshire 7 4 11 10 10 5 
			 Merseyside 5 4 9 7 21 18 
			 Metropolitan police(21) 90 37 90 55 138 102 
			 Norfolk 2 2 1 1 1 — 
			 North Yorkshire 9 9 3 2 10 7 
			 Northamptonshire 7 3 5 5 2 2 
			 Northumbria 15 10 33 31 9 10 
			 Nottinghamshire 2 2 12 9 10 9 
			 South Yorkshire 6 4 23 16 7 6 
			 Staffordshire 7 3 — — 2 2 
			 Suffolk 3 3 4 3 5 2 
			 Surrey — — 10 6 5 5 
			 Sussex 17 15 15 11 19 16 
			 Thames Valley 7 6 14 13 12 12 
			 Warwickshire 2 0 2 3 1 — 
			 West Mercia 13 10 9 8 28 12 
			 West Midlands 52 42 19 16 35 23 
			 West Yorkshire 21 17 32 26 30 22 
			 Wiltshire 5 4 6 6 7 7 
			 England 424 297 474 360 546 409 
		
	
	
		
			  2002 2003 
			 Court/police force area Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty 
		
		
			 Brent PSA(20) 9 8 2 1 
			  
			 Police force area 
			 Avon and Somerset 10 5 4 3 
			 Bedfordshire 6 3 8 4 
			 Cambridgeshire — 1 — 1 
			 Cheshire 9 5 17 14 
			 Cleveland 6 3 9 6 
			 Cumbria 4 6 12 9 
			 Derbyshire 10 8 10 7 
			 Devon and Cornwall 19 15 20 14 
			 Dorset 7 2 1 2 
			 Durham — — 1 1 
			 Essex 8 5 13 11 
			 Gloucestershire 3 3 2 2 
			 Greater Manchester 31 30 39 30 
			 Hampshire 18 14 8 5 
			 Hertfordshire 13 10 23 15 
			 Humberside 27 16 35 25 
			 Kent 5 2 6 6 
			 Lancashire 66 58 33 22 
			 Leicestershire 7 6 — — 
			 Lincolnshire 13 14 9 7 
			 Merseyside 4 4 2 2 
			 Metropolitan police(21) 224 153 210 143 
			 Norfolk 2 2 1 1 
			 North Yorkshire 5 5 6 5 
			 Northamptonshire 6 5 3 1 
			 Northumbria 7 6 23 20 
			 Nottinghamshire 3 3 11 11 
			 South Yorkshire 15 13 17 11 
			 Staffordshire 4 4 1 — 
			 Suffolk 5 5 — — 
			 Surrey 21 15 11 9 
			 Sussex 14 11 9 5 
			 Thames Valley 22 15 27 23 
			 Warwickshire 12 10 6 5 
			 West Mercia 10 11 20 13 
			 West Midlands 37 30 46 34 
			 West Yorkshire 21 14 18 9 
			 Wiltshire 14 10 3 5 
			 England 688 522 664 483 
		
	
	(18) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	(19) Includes offences under: Environmental Protection Act 1990, sections 33 (6) (8) (9), 34 and 59.
	(20) Includes those found guilty at the Crown court where Brent PSA was the committing court.
	(21) Includes City of London.

Minicabs

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) charged and (b) convicted of illegally operating an unlicensed minicab in each year since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: Statistics on the number of persons charged with a crime are not centrally collected.
	Available information from the Home Office Court Proceedings database on the number of offenders convicted of illegally operating an unlicensed minicab are contained in the table.
	Statistics on court proceedings for 2004 will be published in the autumn.
	
		Number of people found guilty of certain offences in relation to illegally operating an unlicensed minicab, England and Wales 1997 to 2003(22)
		
			 Offence description Statute Year Found guilty 
		
		
			 To ply for hire or to accept passenger for hire within a parking place Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984, Section 35 (7) 1997 2 
			   1998 — 
			   1999 3 
			   2000 1 
			   2001 1 
			   2002 24 
			   2003 1 
			 
			 Touting for hire car services in a public place Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994 Sec. 167 1997 170 
			   1998 159 
			   1999 147 
			   2000 127 
			   2001 141 
			   2002 182 
			   2003 194 
			 
			 Offences peculiar to stage carriage and public service Vehicles Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869 and order dated 30 December 1907 made thereunder by the secretary of State 1997 16 
			   1998 11 
			   1999 17 
			   2000 13 
			   2001 15 
			   2002 6 
			   2003 1 
			 
			 Offences peculiar to stage carriage and public service Vehicles Town Police Clauses Act1847 sec 40–68 (except the offence of drunkenness under section 61) 1997 443 
			   1998 608 
			   1999 532 
			   2000 499 
			   2001 352 
			   2002 391 
			   2003 268 
			 
			 Triable either way & summary offences(23) Private Hire Vehicles(London) Act 1998 1997 * 
			   1998 * 
			   1999 — 
			   2000 — 
			   2001 — 
			   2002 — 
			   2003 — 
			 
			 Summary offences(23) Local Government (Misc Provisions) Act 1976 1997 n/a 
			   1998 n/a 
			   1999 n/a 
			   2000 n/a 
			   2001 n/a 
			   2002 n/a 
			   2003 n/a 
		
	
	* = Not applicable
	n/a = Not available
	(22) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	(23) Offenders convicted for summary offences under the Private Hire Vehicle (London) Act 1998 and Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 cannot be separately identified as they form part of a miscellaneous group which cannot be analysed.

Prisoners

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the prison population had previously served a period in prison as a convicted prisoner (a) in the latest year for which figures are available and (b) 10 years earlier.

Fiona Mactaggart: The table gives the percentage of the sentenced prison population with at least one previous sentence of imprisonment. The latest year for which figures are available is 2002. We do not have data readily available on previous sentences of imprisonment for those in prison 10 years earlier. The data for 1996 are shown as the earliest year for which these data are available.
	
		Sentenced prison population by previous sentences of imprisonment(24)
		
			 Percentage 
			  2002 1996 
		
		
			 No information(25) 9 9 
			 No previous sentence of imprisonment 38 46 
			 At least one previous sentence of imprisonment 53 45 
		
	
	(24) Based on a sample of those in prison under sentence on the 30 June 2002 and 1996 respectively. The numbers are then weighted to give an estimate for all those in prison under sentence at that time.
	(25) Data on the criminal history of the sentenced prison population is taken from the Offenders Index. It was not possible to find data on the criminal history of all convicted prisoners.

Teenage Girls (Grooming)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to tackle the "grooming" of teenage girls on the internet; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The Task Force on Child Protection on the internet was established in March 2001 in response to concerns about the possible risks to children after a number of serious cases where children had been "groomed" via the internet.
	The work of the Task Force have focused on the needs of children and in particular teenagers, under the age of consent, who are considered to be most at risk from paedophile "grooming".
	Arising out of its work, we introduced legislation to tackle the sexual grooming of children under 16 both online and offline in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Section 15 of the Act makes it an offence for a person aged 18 or over to meet intentionally, or to travel with the intention of meeting, a child under the age of 16 in any part of the world, if he has not met or communicated with that child on at least two prior occasions, and intends to commit a sexual offence against that child either at the time of the meeting or on a subsequent occasion. The offence has a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
	To cover the kind of behaviour which might precede a meeting, and enable the police to take action at an earlier stage, Sections 123 to 129 of the Act provide for a new civil preventative order, the Risk of Sexual Harm Order (RSHO). The police can apply for this civil order against any person aged 18 or over who is thought to pose a sexual risk to children under 16, provided that on at least two occasions, the defendant has done one of the acts listed. The acts include, amongst other things, communicating with a child, where any part of the communication is sexual. The minimum duration of an order is two years. Breach of an order, without reasonable excuse, is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty on indictment of five years' imprisonment.
	The work of the Task Force has also extended to four national awareness campaigns since 2001 at a cost of over £3 million. These campaigns, carried out through cinema, radio and online advertising, have highlighted the measures that can be taken to promote safety online, and the new risks posed by emerging technology. In addition, over 1.5 million copies of a leaflet for parents called "Keeping your Child Safe on the Internet" have been distributed to schools in conjunction with the campaign. The Government have also provided online advice for children, parents and carers, in particular at www.thinkuknow.co.uk and www.parentscentre.gov. uk

Weapon Sales (Prosecutions)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many businesses have been prosecuted for the illegal sale of (a) knives, (b) replica guns and (c) firearms in (i) Brent East and (ii) each London borough in the last 12 months.

Hazel Blears: The available information on the Home Office Court Proceedings database shows that for Greenwich and Woolwich petty sessional area 2003 there were two defendants proceeded against for "Selling a firearm to a person without a certificate" (Firearms Act 1968 Sec 3(2) as amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Section 8, part III). There were no other prosecutions in London magistrates' courts for the requested offences as notified to the Home Office Court Proceedings database.

Dentistry

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to establish better working relations between private dentistry and NHS dentistry.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 9 June
	In March 2003, the Office of Fair Trading published a report of a market investigation, "The private dentistry market in the UK", in response to a super-complaint from the Consumers Association. The report's main conclusion, which we accepted, was that consumers need better information to make properly informed choices about which dentists and treatments will best meet their needs. We have been working with the General Dental Council (GDC) on implementation of the report's recommendations. The GDC has just published a new version of its ethical guidance, "Standards for Dental Professionals", which includes the requirement that dentists give full information on proposed treatments and possible costs. In addition, the Dentists Act 1984 Amendment Order 2005, which was laid before Parliament on 25 May, includes a power for the GDC to establish a new private complaints system to investigate and resolve complaints from patients who have received private dental treatment including instances where patients have not been given a well-informed choice between national health service and private treatment.

Abortions

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many pregnancies were terminated in the United Kingdom in each year between 1975 and 2005 at fewer than (a) 28 weeks, (b) 24 weeks, (c) 22 weeks and (d) 12 weeks;
	(2)  how many terminations of pregnancy were carried out in the United Kingdom in each year between 1975 and 2005;
	(3)  how many patients under the age of 16 years had pregnancies terminated in each year between 1975 and 2004.

Caroline Flint: The available information is shown in the tables.
	The annual abortion data for 2004 will be published in July; the annual data for 2006 will be published next summer.
	
		Legal abortions: total number of abortions, number of abortions at age under 16, and abortions by gestation(26), residents of England and Wales, 1975 to 2003
		
			   Age in years Gestation weeks(27) 
			  Total under 16 0 to 11 12 to 19 20 to 23 24 and over 
		
		
			 1975 106,224 3,570 74,464 26,993 847 124 
			 1976 101,912 3,345 72,442 24,935 811 164 
			 1977 102,677 3,581 73,218 24,712 912 183 
			 1978 111,851 3,298 79,301 27,138 1,249 261 
			 1979 120,611 3,534 84,634 30,004 1,486 281 
			 1980 128,927 3,650 90,472 32,001 1,853 381 
		
	
	
		
			   Age in years Gestation weeks(27) 
			  Total under 16 0 to 12 13 to 22 23 to 24 25 and over 
		
		
			 1981 128,581 3,531 108,472 18,694 296 104 
			 1982 128,553 3,852 110,148 17,958 290 78 
			 1983 127,375 4,087 108,861 18,021 311 87 
			 1984 136,388 4,158 117,414 18,396 447 57 
			 1985 141,101 4,002 122,252 18,354 440 31 
			 1986 147,619 3,894 128,658 18,509 420 26 
			 1987 156,191 3,765 135,782 19,911 463 24 
			 1988 168,298 3,568 145,969 21,725 569 23 
			 1989 170,463 3,383 149,765 20,166 511 19 
			 1990 173,900 3,422 152,666 20,801 407 21 
			 1991 167,376 3,158 147,494 19,444 380 58 
			 1992 160,501 3,000 142,166 17,976 304 53 
			 1993 157,846 3,083 140,405 17,035 342 61 
		
	
	
		
			   Age in years Gestation weeks2 
			  Total under 16 0 to 12 13 to 22 23 to 24 25–27 
		
		
			 1994 156,539 3,246 139,207 16,927 323 49 
			 1995 154,315 3,270 137,696 16,226 330 25 
			 1996 167,916 3,645 148,819 18,614 397 59 
			 1997 170,145 3,434 151,667 18,013 399 36 
			 1998 177,871 3,759 158,327 19,036 445 30 
		
	
	
		
			   Age in years Gestation weeks(27) 
			  Total under 16 0 to 12 13 to 20 21 to 23(28) 24–27 
		
		
			 1999 173,701 3,603 154,682 17,274 1,654 58 
			 2000 175,542 3,748 154,908 18,790 1,745 65 
			 2001 176,364 3,658 154,869 19,458 1,936 66 
		
	
	
		
			   Age in years Gestation weeks(27) 
			  Total under 16 4 to 12 13 to 21 22 to 23(28) 24–27 
		
		
			 2002 175,932 3,733 153,730 20,840 1,245 73 
		
	
	
		
			   Age in years Gestation weeks 
			  Total under 16 4 to 12 13 to 21 22 and over 
		
		
			 2003 181,582 3,967 158,449 21,768 1,365 
		
	
	(26) The way gestation length has been grouped for publication has changed several times since 1975 and this is reflected in the tables.
	(27) Figures by gestation may not add to the total as they include terminations at gestations over 27 weeks and terminations at gestations unknown.
	(28) Includes 24 weeks and 0 days.

Hemel Hempstead Hospital

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list key services set to transfer from Hemel Hempstead Hospital; and what the new location is in each case.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 13 June 2005
	The information requested is not held centrally. Our policy of "Shifting the Balance of Power" means that the configuration of local services is a matter for the local national health service, working in partnership with its local community. Ministers have no formal part in this process, unless this matter is referred by the overview and scrutiny committee, and it would therefore not be appropriate for me to provide a detailed response to the comments made.
	Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) is currently in the process of drawing up its outline business case (OBC) for the reconfiguration of health services in both counties. The SHA's OBC will be submitted to the Department for consideration in January 2006.

Hot Weather-Related Conditions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) accident and emergency department attendances and (b) hospital admissions in England with a hot-weather related primary diagnosis, including sunburn, there have been in each year since 1997, broken down by age.

Caroline Flint: Diagnosis-specific data is not collected or held centrally on accident and emergency department attendances. However, it is collected by hospital admissions and the information available is shown in the table.
	
		Count of finished admissions, admitted via accident and emergency, primary diagnosis hot weather related illness including sunburn, split by age group 0–14, 15–64 and 65+, NHS hospitals in England 1997–98 to 2003–04
		
			  Finished admissions Age bands 
			  Total 0–14 15–64 65 + 
		
		
			 1997–98 162 44 85 33 
			 1998–99 127 45 72 10 
			 1999–2000 176 52 103 21 
			 2000–01 126 43 70 13 
			 2001–02 144 51 76 17 
			 2002–03 101 40 54 7 
			 2003–04 188 62 95 31 
		
	
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health.

Leukaemia (High Voltage Lines)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government have commissioned research into a possible correlation between children living within 200 metres of high voltage lines at birth and risk of leukaemia; how many homes in England are estimated to be within 200 metres of high voltage power lines; and whether the Government plans to make recommendations regarding the safety of living near high voltage power lines.

Caroline Flint: The Department commissioned the work by Dr. Draper and colleagues on childhood cancer and distance from power lines, recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ Vol. 330, 4 June 2005). The study found higher rates of childhood leukaemia among those born within 600 metres of a power line compared with those born further away. The rate was higher for those born within 200 metres than those between 200 and 600 metres. The authors have no satisfactory explanations for the results in terms of causation by magnetic fields. A response statement has been provided by the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) radiation protection division and is available on its website at: www.hpa.org.uk/radiation.
	The study concerned high voltage power lines forming the National Grid in England and Wales, that is all 400 kilovolts (kV) and 275kV lines and a small fraction of 132kV lines. The National Grid Transco website notes that 139,000 homes in England and Wales, less than 1 per cent. of homes, are within 200 metres of their lines.
	A number of population studies in the past that have linked magnetic field exposure with a raised incidence of childhood leukaemia but with no corresponding explanation. This led to the International Agency for Cancer Research to classify extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields as a "possible carcinogen". The World Health Organization and the HPA in this country have recommended additional research and, bearing in mind the scientific uncertainty, the need for further precautionary measures to be considered. Government officials have already started detailed discussions with industry, regulators, professional bodies and interest groups about how to respond and a stakeholder group has been set up with the intention of making practical and proportionate recommendations in the interests of society as a whole.

British-Irish Summit

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the outcome of the seventh British-Irish summit held on the Isle of Man on 20 May.

Angela Smith: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was very pleased, so early in his new role, to have the opportunity to meet the Taoiseach and the Heads of the other BIC Administrations. They considered the subject of Telemedicine and its potential to assist in the delivery of health and social care across all member administrations.
	The summit was highly successful and a copy of the official communiqué detailing the discussions which occurred at the meeting has been placed in the Library of the House. It is also available at the following website address; http://www.britishirishcouncil.org/documents/iom summit.asp

Civil Servants

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed within the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland, broken down by area of responsibility.

Shaun Woodward: The total number of staff employed by the Department, including Health Estates Agency is 1,037. A table showing the breakdown of staff, per area of responsibility, is as follows.
	
		Staff in post at 25 May 2005
		
			 Head of group Area of responsibility Number of staff 
		
		
			 Permanent Secretary Office of the Permanent Secretary 13 
			
			 Deputy Secretary, Resources and Performance Management Group Internal Audit Hyponatraemia Inquiry 18 
			  Personnel and Corporate Services 141 
			  Finance 59 
			  Information and Analysis 26 
			  Planning and Performance Management 27 
			
			 Deputy Secretary, Strategic Planning and Modernisation Group  2 
			  Modernisation Directorate 18 
			  Regional Strategy and Public Safety Directorate 30 
			  Human Resources 72 
			  Directorate of Information Systems 202 
			
			 Deputy Secretary, Primary, Secondary and Community Care Group  2 
			  Primary Care 29 
			  Secondary Care 22 
			  Mental Health and Disability Services 24 
			  Family and Elderly Care Directorate 27 
			
			 Chief Medical Officer Medical and Allied Services 26 
			  Public Health 1 
			  Health Services 1 
			  Health Development 35 
			  Medical Support Services 4 
			  Occupational Health Service 29 
			  Specific Services 4 
			  Employment Medical Advice 1 
			  Workforce Acute Services 1 
			
			 Chief Nursing Officer Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Group 12 
			
			 Social Services Inspectorate Social Services Inspectorate 22 
			  Childcare 20 
			
			 Chief Dental Officer Dental Services Group 9 
			
			 Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Pharmaceutical Advice and Services Group 11 
			
			 Chief Executive, Health Estates Agency Chief Executive and Corporate Services 17 
			  Estate Development 82 
			  Estate Policy 38 
			
			 Mental Health Commission  10 
			
			 Seconded Officers  2 
			
			 Total  1,037

Costello Report

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 25 May 2005, Official Report, column 116W, whether each pro-forma letter received by his Department in relation to the Costello Report is treated as a single letter of support or opposition.

Angela Smith: In addition to recommending that transfer from primary to post-primary school should be on the basis of informed parental and pupil choice, with no reference to academic ability, the Post-Primary Review Working Group Report made a number of key recommendations. These include the introduction of an "Entitlement Framework" to guarantee pupils access to a wider choice of courses, and the development of a Pupil Profile. These and other recommendations have received a large measure of support, including from some of those opposed to the changes relating to academic selection. It is not, therefore, feasible or appropriate to categorise correspondence received by the Department as simply either supporting or opposing the Report as a whole.
	Each letter received by the Department on these issues, whether part of a campaign or not, is treated on an individual basis.

Housing Executive

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent in each housing executive district in Northern Ireland on accommodating those on the waiting list for housing in hostels, hotels or bed and breakfast establishments in each of the past five years for which figures are available.

David Hanson: The information is not available in the form requested, or for the period specified. The Housing Executive makes use of a variety of types of housing such as self-contained or hostel accommodation and "shared" accommodation which may be a house in multiple occupation or a bed and breakfast establishment. However, the following table details expenditure on all temporary accommodation by Housing Executive administrative area and the out of hours service for the financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05.
	
		Temporary accommodation expenditure 2003–04 and 2004–05
		
			  Expenditure (£) Expenditure (%) Expenditure (£) Expenditure (%) 
			 Housing Executive administrative area 2003–04 2003–04 2004–05 2004–05 
		
		
			 After hours services (province wide) 46,868 0.5 94,677 1.1 
			 Belfast 4,486,946 53.5 3,785,300 47.8 
			 North East 877,552 10 702,853 9 
			 South 441,072 5 518,276 6.5 
			 South East 1,417,812 17 1,569,957 20 
			 West 1,206,910 14 1,234,306 15.6 
			 Total 8,477,160 100 7,905,369 100

School Discipline

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance is issued to teachers by his Department as to whether and when it is justifiable for a member of teaching staff to raise their voice when dealing with an unruly pupil or student.

Angela Smith: No specific guidance has been issued on this subject. The Department's publication "Pastoral Care in Schools: Promoting Positive Behaviour", distributed to all teachers, contains advice on dealing with aggressive pupils and confrontational situations. The advice emphasises keeping the emotional temperature as low as possible and dealing with the situation calmly and quietly.

Acts of Parliament (Internet Access)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to make all Acts of Parliament published before 1988 for which his Department is responsible available on-line.

Jack Straw: The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) within the Cabinet Office is the Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament, and responsible for the publication of Acts of Parliament. HMSO has considered the publication of Acts prior to 1988, which is the earliest date when these were available electronically, but has decided not to do so as many have been heavily amended and to publish them in their original form would be misleading for many users. The Government are, however, taking forward development of a Statue Law Database which will contain the fully revised and updated text of all legislation from 1275. It is expected that this will be made available to the general public during 2006.

European Court of Justice

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those decisions of the European Court of Justice where the court have found an item of European Community legislation to be in breach of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 13 June 2005
	European Court Report 1–8419.
	There have however been many cases over the years where the Court has been presented with legal arguments on the principle of proportionality. The Court's website provides a list of officially reported cases which refer to the principle. Some of these references are to summaries of the parties' pleadings; some are in opinions of the Advocates General; and some are in judgements of the Court. Because of the number of references to the principle of proportionality, I am unable to provide a comprehensive analysis of the instances in which the Court has struck down Community legislation on this basis due to the disproportionate cost that would be involved. The list can be found at:
	http://curia.eu.int/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=en&Submit= Submit&docj=docj&docop=docop&numaff=&datefs=&da tefe=&nomusuel=&domaine=&mots=%22principle+of+ proportionality%22&resmax=100
	Alternatively, a list of cases in which the Court dealt with legal questions on the principle of proportionality can be found in the 'Alphabetical Subject Matter' section of the Court's website (www.curia.eu.int) under 'Principes generaux du droit communautaire.' The case references are under the heading 'Proportionnalité'. This section is only available in French.

European External Action Service

David Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what preparatory work has been carried out in relation to the European External Action Service.

Douglas Alexander: The preparatory work on the European External Action Service, as tasked by the October Intergovernmental Conference and the December European Council, has consisted of official level discussions and an "issues paper" presented jointly by High Representative Solana and Commission President Barrosso. Discussions are at an early stage and no conclusions have been reached. The Commission and Council Secretariat have written a joint progress report on the official level discussion which the Government have placed in the Library of the House.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Iraqi Government to urge them to sign up to the Ottawa Convention; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The United Kingdom is strongly committed to the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (the "Mine Ban Treaty"). The UK was among the first states to sign and ratify the Convention, which entered into force on 1 March 1999, and is proud of its record with respect to implementation of the Convention. To be fully effective, the ban on anti-personnel landmines must be universal. The United Kingdom urges all states that have not signed the Convention to do so as soon as possible.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and what percentage of staff in his Department have received training on the general and specific duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, broken down by (a) ethnicity and (b) grade.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Valuing Diversity course includes a section on the Rate Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. This course is mandatory for all FCO staff. The course is delivered twice a month. In addition, staff who take on specific roles, for example heads and deputy heads of our overseas posts, and new staff joining the FCO, are briefed on diversity issues including the RR(A)A. Guidance for FCO staff on the RR(A)A is available on the FCO's internal intranet. This guidance includes the FCO's new Race Equality Scheme 2005–08, which is being circulated to all FCO departments and posts, and is available on our website, www.fco.gov.uk
	In the 2004–05 financial year, 340 members of staff, 5 per cent. of the total number of UK based FCO staff, attended. This is broken down by grade in Table 1.
	
		
			 Grade Numbers attended HCS grade equivalent 
		
		
			 A1 50 AA 
			 A2 56 AO 
			 B3 48 EO 
			 C4 41 HEO 
			 C5 19 SEO 
			 D6 29 Grade 7 (Principal) 
			 D7 8 Grade 6 (Senior Principal) 
			 SMS 23 SCS pay bands 1–4 
			 Unknown 66  
		
	
	Under the employment duty of the RR(A)A we are required to monitor employment factors such as recruitment and promotion. It has not yet been possible to collect data on staff applying for and attending training courses broken down by ethnicity. However, we are working to establish a mechanism to monitor training using the FCO's information management system, Prism. We have asked the development team for a standard report to be available on Prism which will enable ethnicity data to be taken from staff records for all training courses attended. This report should be available in about four months' time.

Absence without Leave

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many trained personnel have gone absent without leave in each of the services in each of the last five years.

Don Touhig: The number of service personnel 1 who have gone absent without leave in each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		Navy
		
			 Calendar year Total number reported AWOL (rounded to the nearest 5) 
		
		
			 2000 50 
			 2001 85 
			 2002 90 
			 2003 115 
			 2004 185 
		
	
	
		Royal Marines
		
			 Calendar year Total number reported AWOL (rounded to the nearest 5) 
		
		
			 2000 20 
			 2001 15 
			 2002 20 
			 2003 15 
			 2004 22 
		
	
	Figures include trained and untrained strength.
	
		Army
		
			 Calendar year Total number reported AWOL (rounded to the nearest 5) 
		
		
			 2000 2,725 
			 2001 2,670 
			 2002 2,970 
			 2003 2,825 
			 2004 3,005 
		
	
	
		RAF
		
			 Financial year Total number reported AWOL (rounded to the nearest 5) 
		
		
			 2000–01 20 
			 2001–02 15 
			 2002–03 25 
			 2003–04 25 
			 2004–05 40 
		
	
	Recording absence differs between the Naval Service, the Army and the RAF. The Naval Service and the Army record multiple periods of absence by the same person. However, the RAF registers an individual once, regardless of how many times they are absent within a financial year.

Government Spending

Charles Walker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much central Government money was spent in the most recent year for which figures are available per head of population in each of the English regions; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: Information on central Government and public corporations' identifiable spending per country and region per head is set out in table 8.16 of the HM Treasury and Office of National Statistics publication, "Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005", April 2005 (Cm 6521). This provides outturn data for 2003–04, the most recent year for which figures are available, and plans for 2004–05.

Property and Pensions

Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely effects on tax revenue of the new rules on residential property and personal pension plans to be introduced in April 2006.

Ivan Lewis: Pension tax simplification replaces the numerous existing tax regimes with a universal regime for tax-privileged pension savings providing greater flexibility to some 15 million pension savers.
	Currently most pension funds may invest in residential property, and many do. Under the new simplified regime small self-administered schemes (SSASs) and self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) may invest in residential property from 6 April 2006. Around 200,000 people, compared to over 15 million pension scheme members, hold these specialist pension vehicles. Creating a single set of allowable investments across all pension schemes fits the requirement to create a single regime for tax privileged pension saving and corrects an existing distortion by giving investors greater choice.
	The regulatory impact assessment (RIA) "Simplifying the Taxation of Pensions" published in April 2004, which can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ria/simplifying-pensions.pdf set out an assessment of the potential impact of the whole pensions simplification package, including the changes to the lifetime allowance and ages at which pensions can be taken, together with allowing residential property into SIPPs and SSASs. These elements cannot easily be separated and therefore the RIA estimates the overall cost of the pensions simplification package to the Exchequer at around £¼ billion within four years. Paragraphs 55 and 56 deal specifically with the potential consequences of allowing residential property into SIPPs and SSASs.
	The Government will keep this aspect of the tax system, as with all others, under review.

Tax Credits

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research his Department has (a) undertaken, (b) commissioned and (c) reviewed on the effectiveness of research and development (R and D) tax credits in stimulating additional (R and D) activity in the UK.

John Healey: The effectiveness of fiscal incentives for R and D was fully considered in the development of the UK's R and D tax credit system. The Government has committed to a full evaluation of R and D tax credits and, as the first stage, has commissioned a survey of R and D companies to examine awareness and use of R and D tax credits and to assess any early effects on business R and D.
	The Government will continue to monitor the wide range of economic and international evidence on R and D fiscal incentives to assess and inform improvements to the UK's R and D tax credits. Further research will also be commissioned as part of the evaluation programme.
	National Statistics on the number of claims and amount of support claimed through the SME R and D tax credit are published on the HM Revenue and Customs website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate tax/randdtcmenu.htm

Tax Levels

Charles Walker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to reduce levels of tax paid by low and middle income earners; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Government keep all taxes under review; announcements about taxation are made within the Budget cycle.
	The Government are keen to use targeted measures to ensure that help goes to those that need it most.
	Personal tax and benefit measures introduced since 1997 mean that by October 2005 a single earner family on male average earnings and with two children will be £205 a year better off in real terms and the same family on half male average earnings will be £3,700 a year better off in real terms.

Tax Levels

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of taxpayers in (a) Lancashire and (b) the UK paid tax at the (i) basic rate and (ii) higher rate in (A) 1992, (B) 1997, (C) 2001 and (D) the latest year for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the estimated number of income taxpayers in the UK for the years since 1992–93 is available in table 2.1 'Number of individual income taxpayers' on the HM Revenue and Customs internet website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income tax/table2–1.pdf.
	Similar information on the estimated number of income taxpayers in Lancashire for the years 1992–93 and 1997–98 is not available.
	Information on the number of number and percentage of taxpayers in Lancashire in 2001–02 and 2002–03 (the latest year for which figures are available) is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 
		
		
			 Basic rate   
			 Number (thousands) 424 436 
			 Percentage 77.4 77.4 
			
			 Higher rate   
			 Number (thousands) 44 44 
			 Percentage 8.0 7.8 
			
			 All taxpayers   
			 Number (thousands) 548 563 
			 Percentage 100 100 
		
	
	The all taxpayers figures include all those paying tax at the starting rate, savers rate, basic rate and higher rate.
	The income tax information is based upon the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI).

Tax System (1997)

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the disincentives to work that existed within the tax system in 1997.

Ivan Lewis: The work incentive problems that existed in 1997 were analysed in "Work Incentives: A Report by Martin Taylor", the second paper in HM Treasury's reports on modernising the tax and benefit system. The report is available at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/2BF/88/taylor.pdf

Adult Illiteracy/Innumeracy

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the level of adult (a) illiteracy and (b) innumeracy in England was in each year between 1994 and 2004.

Phil Hope: The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) does not collect annual data on levels of adult literacy and numeracy. However, to inform our planning and delivery in this key policy area, in October 2003 the Department published the "Skills for Live Survey: A national needs and impact survey of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills" (DfES, October 2003).
	The survey assessed the literacy, numeracy and ICT skills of around 8,000 adults aged 16 and above in England. The findings are shown in the following tables. The assessment levels correspond to the new literacy and numeracy core curriculum and National Standards: Level 1 is broadly equivalent to a lower grade GCSE (grade D-G) and Level 2 to a higher grade GCSE (A*-C). Overall around 16 per cent. of adults had literacy skills below Level 1 and 47 per cent. had numeracy skills below this level.
	
		Overall literacy—Base: all respondents with literacy level (7874)
		
			  Percentage of 16 to 65-year-olds Number of 16 to 65-year-olds (million) 
		
		
			 Entry level 1 or below 3 1.1 
			 Entry level 2 2 0.6 
			 Entry level 3 11 3.5 
			 (All Entry level or below) (16) (5.2) 
			 Level 1 40 12.6 
			 Level 2 or above 44 14.1 
			  100 31.9 
		
	
	Source:
	Census 01
	Skills for Life Survey, 2003
	
		Overall numeracy—Base: all respondents with numeracy level (8040)
		
			  Percentage of 16 to 65-year-olds Number of 16 to 65-year-olds (million) 
		
		
			 Entry level 1 or below 5 1.7 
			 Entry level 2 16 5.1 
			 Entry level 3 25 8.1 
			 (All Entry level or below) (47) (15.0) 
			 Level 1 28 8.8 
			 Level 2 or above 25 8.1 
			  100 31.9 
		
	
	Source:
	Census 01
	Skills for Life Survey, 2003
	A copy of the survey report is in the House of Commons Library and on the DfES website: www.dfes.gov.uk

Bullying

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance her Department has produced to deal with (a) bullying of early years pupils and (b) bullying issues that arise in the infant age group.

Jacqui Smith: The Education Act 2002 embeds the Foundation Stage as part of the National Curriculum and supports our aim of giving all children a better start to school life. This will support staff in equipping children in their early years with the key skills they need for their learning journey and will feed through to higher educational attainment, supporting standards and improved behaviour within schools and outside.
	In order to meet children's diverse needs, and help all children make the best possible progress, practitioners should provide a safe and supportive learning environment, free from harassment, in which the contribution of all children is valued and where racial, religious, disability and gender stereotypes are challenged.
	'Personal, social and emotional development' is part of the Foundation Stage Curriculum. This includes 'developing respect for others, social competence and a positive disposition to learn'. Children learn to understand what is right, what is wrong and why; and to consider the consequences of their words and actions for themselves and others. Guidance to practitioners includes involving children in agreeing codes of behaviour and taking responsibility for their implementation.
	To support this the Department has appointed the Institute of Psychology, King's College London to develop a training programme on young children's personal social and emotional development to support the Birth to Three Matters and Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage documents.
	The materials will address various aspects of children's personal social and emotional development and its promotion, implications for practice and multi agency-working. The emphasis will be on producing effective, user friendly, quality materials setting out key messages. Through these key messages children will develop respect for others, social competence and a positive disposition to learn.
	In June 2005, the DfES is making available to all primary schools curriculum materials to help reduce bullying. They include age related materials for pupils in Foundation Stage, KS1 and KS2, and are part of the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) curriculum resource.
	All primary schools also have access to the DfES anti bullying resource pack for schools 'Don't Suffer in Silence', which provides a number of anti-bullying strategies including co-operative group work, circle time, circle of friends, all of which are suitable for use with infant age children.
	Head teachers, staff and learners from various primary schools have been involved in the Make the Difference conferences sharing effective practice from their own schools and others.
	We are currently developing advice for schools on Countering Racist Bullying, which will cover issues for all children from foundation stage upwards.

Education Funding

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding has been set aside for high-quality tuition in (a) the arts, (b) music, (c) sport and (d) foreign languages for the next three financial years.

Jacqui Smith: We are investing in major national programmes such as Creative Partnerships—providing a £2.5 million contribution to the larger DCMS funding specifically to run an education team—to support schools to give their pupils the opportunity to experience learning through creativity and working with artists, actors etc. We also support the Artsmark Awards which recognise schools that have made a strong commitment to the arts and have encouraged schools to increase their provision of arts to pupils, thereby raising the profile and quality of arts education across the country
	To date, £270 million has gone to LEA Music Services through the Music Standards Fund. The MSF was set up in 1999 to protect music services and to expand music provision outside of the National Curriculum. We now plan to distribute up to a further £210 million during the course of the current spending period, and this includes a planned £30 million increase intended to specifically support Music Services to implement the Ofsted supported Wider Opportunities Music Programme at Key Stage 2. This successful programme was piloted in 13 areas, and consisted of new musical experiences and whole class instrumental tuition.
	The Government are investing £978 million in the five years to 2008 to deliver the national PE, School Sport and Club Links strategy. £28 million of the overall budget has been set aside to support the professional development of teachers and other to enhance the quality of PE teaching and learning.
	The Secretary of State announced a £115 million "Boost for Modern Foreign Languages" in March 2005, providing support for languages teaching over the next three years. £60 million of that sum will support initial and existing teacher training, and another £14 million will support new approaches for teaching and learning for 11 to 18-year-olds.

Leadership Group on Behaviour and Discipline

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  whether she expects the report of the Leadership Group on Behaviour and Discipline to be published; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how much has been allocated for the work of the Leadership Group on Behaviour and Discipline;
	(3)  which professional bodies have been invited to (a) attend and (b) nominate teachers and head teachers to the Leadership Group on Behaviour and Discipline;
	(4)  what the (a) functions and (b) membership of the (i) Leadership Group on Behaviour and Discipline and (ii) Behaviour and Attendance Reference Group are;
	(5)  what functions the Leadership Group on Behaviour and Discipline will take over from the Behaviour and Attendance Reference Group;
	(6)  whether the Behaviour and Attendance Reference Group will be abolished;
	(7)  how much funding the Behaviour and Attendance Reference Group (a) received in each year since it was established and (b) is projected to receive.

Jacqui Smith: The Leadership Group on Behaviour and Discipline, announced on 20 May, will advise the Government on how effective school discipline reaches every classroom, how to improve parental responsibility for their children's behaviour and deliver a culture of respect in all schools. Chaired by Sir Alan Steer of the Seven Kings High School in Ilford, the group has a membership of heads and teachers with a proven track record in managing behaviour. Six of these have been nominated by teacher unions and professional associations—ATL, NAHT, NAS/UWT, NUT, PAT and SHA. The leadership group is due to report by the end of October to a ministerial group on behaviour and attendance. The ministerial group comprises general secretaries of those six organisations, a representative from Unison, Ofsted, local authorities and governors, including a parent governor. The ministerial group's role will be to advise Ministers on the development and implementation of behaviour and attendance policies and to play an active part in promoting and helping to embed the most effective practice in improving behaviour and attendance across all schools. This includes receiving the report of the leadership group. I intend to make available the report of the leadership group, once my ministerial group has had an opportunity to consider its findings.
	With the creation of the two new groups, and pending the report of the leadership group, we have suspended meetings of the Improving Behaviour and Attendance Programme (IBAP) reference group. The IBAP reference group has played a valuable role since its creation in September 2002. Its functions have been to review and help develop strategy, including the effect and practicalities of its implementation; to comment on guidance and other materials that have been made available to schools and LEAs; and to provide a forum for partners to discuss behaviour and attendance issues. Following the decision to suspend its meetings, its overall strategic role and its role as a discussion forum will be taken forward by the new ministerial group. No decisions have yet been taken on its future role.
	The IBAP reference group did not receive any specific funding, apart from costs of its meetings. It is envisaged that similar arrangements will apply to the two new groups. As the leadership group comprises serving heads and teachers, we are providing supply cover costs.
	The members of the IBAP reference group are listed as follows.
	
		
			 Association Name 
		
		
			 ACE Julia Parnaby 
			 ACE Ingrid Sutherland 
			 Association of Education Welfare Managers Jenny Price 
			 Association of Education Welfare Managers Jennie Clark 
			 NEC of AEWM Stewart Bray 
			 Ofsted David Moore 
			 Ofsted Eileen Visser 
			 Youth Justice Board Paul Dale 
			 Youth Justice Board David Padley 
			 Youth Justice Board Julie Conalty 
			 Youth Justice Board Robert Newman 
			 Association of Educational Psychologists David Webster 
			 Association of Educational Psychologists Mary Jenkin 
			 ATL Julie Coverdale 
			 ATL Martin Johnson 
			 NAHT Jan Myles 
			 NAHT Kathryn James 
			 NAHT Philippa Erasmus 
			 Children's Society Vacant 
			 Commission for Racial Equality Suma Das 
			 ConfEd Jo Davidson 
			 ConfED Chris Waterman 
			 DCMS Phil Clapp 
			 DOH Cathy James 
			 General Teaching Council Sally-Ann Davies 
			 GTCE Carol Adams 
			 Information for Schools and College Governors Elizabeth Alqadhi 
			 CFBT Sue Bainbridge 
			 KS3/CfBT Marilyn Toft 
			 NASWE Michael Sunderland 
			 LGA Mark Behrendt 
			 NAGM Hadrian Southern 
			 NASUWT Kim Garcia 
			 NASUWT Chris Keates 
			 NASUWT Patrick Roach 
			 NASUWT Jennifer Moses 
			 NCSL Edith Pagliacci 
			 NCSL Pat Collarbone 
			 NPQH—NCSL Robin Attfield 
			 National Council for Parent-Teacher Association David Butler 
			 NFPI Ann Page 
			 National Governors Council Mary Wallis-Jones 
			 National Planning and Parenting Institute Mary Macleod 
			 NUT John Bangs 
			 NUT Rosamund McNeil 
			 NCB Philippa Stobbs 
			 Professional Association of Teachers Jean Gemmell 
			 Professional Association of Teachers Sharon Vaughan 
			 SHA Bob Carstairs 
			 SHA Kate Griffin 
			 UNISON Vacant 
			 Teacher Training Agency Laura Mahoney 
			 Teacher Training Agency Martin Dore 
			 Independent Rashida Sharif